Cardiac arrhythmias: theory and practice

Guidelines for cardiac arrhythmias: practice makes progress.

Cardiac Rhythms and Arrhythmias

node as the region responsible for activation of the heart.1 Laslett first suggested sinus node dysfunction as a cause of bradycardia in 1909, and during the 1950s and 1960s Short, Ferrer, Lown, and others described the clinical spectrum of sinus node dysfunction that is commonly called the “sick sinus syndrome resting sinus bradycardia.”2-5 Sinus node dysfunction can have multiple electrocardi...

Stress and Cardiac Arrhythmias

Stress can exert adverse effect on cardiovascular health. Psychosocial stress adversely affects the autonomic homeostasis. This in turn can result in metabolic abnormalities, inflammation and dysfunction of endothelium [1]. Changes in the autonomic homeostasis can be a major trigger for ventricular tachyarrhythmias [2]. Increased sympathetic nervous activity can cause increased proarrhythmic re...

Cardiac arrhythmias and pacing.

Clinical trials. In the last two years, a number of landmark clinical trials have been published which further our understanding and clinical management of patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Two of the major goals in the treatment of this condition include reducing progression or recurrence of the arrhythmia and decreasing the risk of cardiovascular events, thereby improving quality of lif...

Cardiac mitochondria and arrhythmias.

Despite a high prevalence of sudden cardiac death throughout the world, the mechanisms that lead to ventricular arrhythmias are not fully understood. Over the last 20 years, a growing body of evidence indicates that cardiac mitochondria are involved in the genesis of arrhythmia. In this review, we have attempted to describe the role that mitochondria play in altering the heart's electrical func...